Father of boy who died after falling off amusement park ride says he hopes lawsuit will change industry

The father of Tyre Sampson, the 14-year-old boy who fell off a ride at ICON Park in Orlando, Fla., last month, said that he hopes their family’s legal action against the owners and manufacturers can “make change” in the industry.

“He could have been a doctor, lawyer, astronaut, anything besides being an athlete,” Yarnell Sampson told NBC News. “That was just one part of his life. So, I just want America to know that as a father and son, mother, we both dealing with this day-by-day, second-by-second, minute-by-minute, to be honest with you. The best thing to do is to get the ball moving towards the right direction. We can make change together.”

Sampson, alongside Tyre’s mother, Nekia Dodd, filed a lawsuit Monday against more than 10 companies, including ICON Park, seeking more than $30,000 in damages under Florida’s wrongful death law.

Tyre, an honors student from Missouri, was visiting the park with teammates from his local football team.

Tyre died on the Free Fall ride, which takes guests up to 430 feet in the air and drops at 75 mph, after he slipped out of his seat and fell to the ground. The Slingshot Group, operators and owners of the ride, suspended the ride following his death. ICON Park has also pushed to suspend another ride from the operators pending safety investigations.

“The defendants in Tyre’s case showed negligence in a multitude of ways,” the family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, said in a statement Monday. “One of the most glaring examples was failing to provide a $22 seatbelt on a ride that cost several million dollars to construct. From the ride and seat manufacturers and the installer to the owners and operators, the defendants had more than enough chances to enact safeguards, such as seatbelts, that could have prevented Tyre’s death. They didn’t, and their poor decisions resulted in deadly consequences for a promising young man and lifelong pain for his family.

“We will hold these defendants accountable for their failures so that a tragedy like this never has to happen again.”

Yarnell tearfully said his son was taken “too soon.”

“When you kiss your child and tell them you love them … I don’t have that choice,” he continued. “Or the chance no more to say that.”

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